Dean supporters to vote on matching funds

[LSdemocrat]

"I am asking you to vote on what kind of a campaign we will conduct from this point forward. No matter how well intentioned both our options are – the choice is difficult: do we choose option (a) to fund our campaign ourselves and decline matching funds, or do we choose option (b) and accept federal matching funds and the spending limits?

You will receive a ballot via email on Thursday and have until midnight Friday to vote. The results will be announced on Saturday."

http://www.blogforamerica.com/

[squanto]

1. 100-1 he takes the matching federal funds

Where's this guy been, a carnival barking for the sideshows?

[Cha]

3. Dean's been building up coalitions across this Nation...

Anyone knows that who has been paying attention.

[pruner]

4. have any of your 60 posts been of substance?

n/t

[sfecap]

12. Is FreeRepublic down tonight?

n/t

[Cha]

2. Hmm! Saturday will be a Full Moon!

I'm betting there will be a momentus decision!

[slinkerwink]

5. excellent!

I'm already choosing option (a), opting out of federal matching funds.....

[Pastiche423]

6. Aha!

So this is the Thursday big news!

[pruner]

7. oops…

n/t

[TSIAS]

8. Very interesting

I'd be inclined to vote (a).

This just might force Kerry to also opt out of federally matching funds.

[chimpymustgo]

10. Nothing like opting out of your integrity, Dr. Dean.

He, who vowed to hammer anyone (Kerry) who might not take public funding. What a hypocrite.

[KaraokeKarlton]

15. Dean isn't making the decision. He's letting his supporters decide.

I think you're just mad because your candidate can't compete with Dean financially if Dean's supporters decide to opt out. It's good that Dean is doing this, letting his supporters vote on it. Then the other candidates can't say that Dean decided to opt out. The people will be making the decision and Dean will do what the people want him to do. This is brilliant.

[Pastiche423]

16. No hypocrite

Dean knows his supporters. ;-)

[tsipple]

9. Recommend Going to LBN to Continue Discussion

Late Breaking News thread here.

[Pavlovs DiOgie]

11. OMFG

This is HUGE...HUGE!! Joe Trippi, or whoever came up with this idea is a genius!

If Dean supporters vote (as I suspect they will) for Dean to opt out, Dean has just accomplished 2 major things: a) he has no spending limit, and can raise enough money to comfortably compete with Bush, and b) has just bypassed ANY criticism he would have otherwise gotten for taking matching funds after he said he would criticize anyone who did. All he has to say is that his supporters have the power, which has been the motto of his entire campaign. He can say that his campaign has been run by the people all of these months (a truth), and now they (we!) have decided for him how to best utilize the money we donated to his campaign. BRILLIANT!!!!

This will be national news.

[FubarFly]

13. I agree. The way to move bad news off the radar is

to replace it with something better. This is the kind of thing an establishment candidate would never do. It will play to Dean's strengths by promoting his grassroots support, and it will help him clearly differentiate himself from his opponents. This is an excellent decision.

[pruner]

14. this is awesome…

The 480,000 people who had registered on Dr. Dean's Web site before the polling was announced will be invited to cast ballots through a secure online server. Another 89,000 will receive telephone calls asking their opinions, and 25,000 more, for which the campaign only has street address, will receive telegrams instructing them how to call in their choice, complete with security code.

<snip>

In an effort to discourage outsiders from throwing the vote — particularly among the hundreds, if not thousands, of Republicans and people working for other Democrats who have signed up on the Dean Web site to monitor his activity — the campaign is requiring voters to declare that they will vote only once, are United States citizens, and support Dr. Dean for president.

The Dean campaign would then have its rivals on record making the embarrassing declaration that they support Dr. Dean for president should they participate in the survey. "If Jim Jordan's in our system," Mr. Trippi said of his counterpart, Senator Kerry's campaign manager, "and he wants to vote `no,' I want him to check that box."

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/05/politics/campaigns/05DEAN.html?pagewanted=2&ei=5062&en=c4de7943ec57b04d&ex=1068613200&partner=GOOGLE

[dfong63]

17. Bush won't be laboring under any spending cap

my heart says public financing is right. but after reading some of the arguments, it seems like Dean almost has no choice. Bush will be raising an unprecedented amount of money, and won't be bound by any artificial spending caps. at first glance, it would seem that accepting a spending cap would be suicidal for Dean.

it's a momentous decision, and a salute Dean for putting the question to his supporters.